Spanish speakers’ English schwar production: Does orthography play a role?

This study examines how input mode – whether written or auditory – interacts with orthography in the production of North American English (NAE) schwar (/ɝ/, found in fur, heard, bird) by native Spanish speakers. Greater orthographic interference was predicted for written input, given the obligatory activation of orthographic representations in the execution of the task. Participants were L1 Mexican Spanish/L2 English speakers (L2, n = 15) and NAE (n = 15, rhotic dialect speakers). The target items were 10 schwar words and 10 words matched in graphemes to the onset and nucleus of the schwar words (e.g., bird was matched with big), for a total of 20 items. The degree of overlap between schwar productions across group and input mode (L2 only) was analyzed, followed by a generalized additive mixed model analysis of F3, one of the acoustic cues to rhotacization. Results showed that L2 schwar productions were different from the NAE productions in both the overlap and F3 measures, and the written input mode showed greater L1 orthographic interference than the auditory input mode, supporting the hypothesis that L1 orthography–phonology correspondences affect L2 productions of English schwar words.

Schreibflüssigkeit im Medienvergleich: Handschrift – Tastaturschreiben – Diktieren mit Spracherkennung

Fluency is considered an essential prerequisite for successful text production. Writing fluency means mastering the basic processes of writing so that cognitive resources are freed up to concentrate on content planning or revision when writing texts. Although the importance of these basic processes is well known, there has been little research on this in a German language context. What is known, however, is that digital technologies can support written production. Compared to handwriting, typing is less demanding in terms of motor skills, for example. Dictation in conjunction with speech recognition in turn supports text production not only in the area of motor execution, but also in the area of spelling. In order to capture the characteristics and currently possible potential of dictation with speech recognition, this study investigated this input mode and contrasted it with handwriting and typing in a writing fluency test (N = 46, 8th grade). The results show that the participants produce longer and more correct texts with the help of dictation with speech recognition than when handwriting or typing. However, there is also evidence that this new form of text production has its own challenges.

Design of a 94 GHz Millimeter-Wave Four-Way Power Combiner Based on Circular Waveguide Structure

This paper introduces a four-way power combiner operating in the 94 GHz millimeter-wave based on spatial power combining technology. The four millimeter-waves with Gaussian beams are combined in the waveguide, increasing the output power. The combiner is composed of five circular waveguides connected by four long and narrow coupling slots. Four sub-waveguides are separately connected to four input ports and one main waveguide is connected to a common output port. The TE11-mode is used as the input mode, which has two vertical and horizontal polarization directions. Four sub-waveguides are respectively input corresponding to polarization directions TE11-wave with Gaussian beams. The power of TE11-wave is transmitted to the main waveguide by the coupling slots, combined in the main waveguide, and output with the common port. We analyze the combiner and verify the availability of the design structure by numerical stimulation with CST MWS (Microwave Studio) software. The power-combining efficiency can be over 97%, and the output beams remain Gaussian beams with nearly fourfold increased power. The proposed model provides technological approaches for power combiner application in millimeter-wave.

Design of Silicon TE0/TE1 Mode Router Using Mach-Zehnder and Multimode Interferometers

This paper proposes a new design of two-mode three-port optical mode router for mode division multiplexing systems. The device consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and a multimode interferometer (MMI), which utilizes silicon material for photonic integrated circuits (PIC). By setting appropriate values for the two butterfly-shaped phase shifters (PSs) at MZI and MMI, the input mode, either transverse electric (TE) modes TE0 or TE1, can be routed to the desired output among the three output ports. The device is designed and optimized via three-dimensional beam propagation method (3D BPM). The proposed device achieves very low insertion loss and small cross-talk, which are less than 0.4 dB and -24.5 dB, respectively, over the whole C band.

Liquid based diurnal thermal storage

A comprehensive study of using thermal energy storage (TES) tank was performed. In this report, the comprehensive literature review of various options of storing thermal energy in buildings was discussed. The objective of the project was to evaluate charging and discharging performance of a storage tank with and without phase change material (PCM) blocks. The general format of the energy balance for the storage tank considering losses, input energy, inlet and outlet mass flow rates, and PCM blocks was developed. Charging performance was analyzed by three different approaches. Initially, constant input thermal energy rate was considered to be delivered to the tank by different heat pumps from 4.5 kW to 9 kW heating capacity. Charging time, phase change process, and stored energy were analyzed under constant thermal energy rate input mode for charging process. Then, the effect of constant coil temperature on charging process was studied and results were compared to previous cases. Also, a solar assisted heat pump was implemented into the model to verify the effect of solar radiation on pre-heating the air for heat pump and how this process improves the overall charging progress of storage tank. Moreover, discharge procedure was discussed to evaluate various discharge modes based on different water draw flow rates. Based on this analyses developing a complete TRNSYS model of the tank is recommended in order to do whole building energy simulation.

Liquid based diurnal thermal storage

A comprehensive study of using thermal energy storage (TES) tank was performed. In this report, the comprehensive literature review of various options of storing thermal energy in buildings was discussed. The objective of the project was to evaluate charging and discharging performance of a storage tank with and without phase change material (PCM) blocks. The general format of the energy balance for the storage tank considering losses, input energy, inlet and outlet mass flow rates, and PCM blocks was developed. Charging performance was analyzed by three different approaches. Initially, constant input thermal energy rate was considered to be delivered to the tank by different heat pumps from 4.5 kW to 9 kW heating capacity. Charging time, phase change process, and stored energy were analyzed under constant thermal energy rate input mode for charging process. Then, the effect of constant coil temperature on charging process was studied and results were compared to previous cases. Also, a solar assisted heat pump was implemented into the model to verify the effect of solar radiation on pre-heating the air for heat pump and how this process improves the overall charging progress of storage tank. Moreover, discharge procedure was discussed to evaluate various discharge modes based on different water draw flow rates. Based on this analyses developing a complete TRNSYS model of the tank is recommended in order to do whole building energy simulation.

OPTIMIZATION OF THE ELECTRON BEAM INPUT MODE DURING WELDING OF THE THIN-WALLED STRUCTURES

В статье рассматривается проблема оптимизации режима ввода электронного луча при сварке тонкостенных конструкций. Предлагается математическая модель позволяющая формировать технологический режим ввода луча с минимальным временем выхода процесса на установившейся режим и максимально эффективным распределением энергии. Optimization of the electron beam input mode during welding of the thin-walled structures The article deals with the problem of optimizing the mode of electron-beam input when welding thin-walled structures. A mathematical model is proposed that allows the formation of a technological mode of beam input with a minimum time for the process to reach a steady state and the most efficient energy distribution.